SOCIAL MEDIA AND GOVERNANCE...why the fear?

I spent some time today being part of a discussion panel made up of senior journalist colleagues and a social media expert. At the heart of our discuss was the topic "should government restrict the use of social media".

A few things flashed through my mind while at the event:

1. I was impresed by at the interest the topic aroused amongst other participants at the forum. It reminded me of how we all hold dearly our freedoms and will rise up to defend it whenever there is a perceived threat to such.

2. One of the panelist (Sani Barkindo) actually put it in clear terms that Nigeria has got the most abusive social media community in the world. This sure did not go without controversy. As to the truism ascribable to this statement, am sure there will be just as much persons who will be for it as there are those against. Perhaps, it will depend on who is asking as well as who is doing the answering (but your guess will be as good as mine).

3. One thing I seem to think we all shared similar perspectives about is the need for the exercise of responsibility on the part of the social media citizen, be it a conventional journalist or a citizen journalist. The idea behind responsibility took me aback to refocus on the consequences associated with the post Arab spring era. I remember asking myself if the orchestra-tors of the Arab spring will still be as proud about the revolutions that have followed their unimagined moves. However, despite divergent views, this is one area of convergence. There is a consensus that rules should be put in place to gag but instead to shape behavior.

4. The one question that kept racing through my mind before and after the panel discuss was; who is afraid of an unrestricted "social media and governance"? over time of observing happenings in the socio political landscape, it is worthy of note that one can categorise the reasons that lead to a growing fear factor withing government circles as thus:

a. Some people completely abhor equality in any form, and this is exactly what the social media creates. A situation where there is vertical communication across board.
b. There exist the fear of the un-known especially looking at what has happened to those who allowed the rise of the social media to go un-checkmated.

There are other factors that can be attributed to the fear factor regarding the proliferation of social media and unrestricted access.

I left the workshop however feeling better and told the audience in my summary that "...there is no point in time that the human race hasn't been able to surmount any challenge, and that is what makes us unique. It is now time for us to all agree and come together to review the social medial path and work out some agreements that will leave the world being freer and yet having more people being responsible and accountable in the virtual space so as to preserve our civilization".